Fitness column: Make walking a routine

May 21, 2011

St. Cloud State professor Marge Pryately walks a crosswalk on Ninth Avenue South Wednesday on her way to work in the Communication Studies Department. She dons a comfortable, supportive pair of shoes and enjoys walking the seven-block route regularly for exercise, carrying bags on both shoulders when needed to distribute the weight evenly. / Kimm Anderson, kanderson@stcloudtimes.com

Twenty-one years ago, Marge Pryately arrived in town to teach at St. Cloud State University.

During graduate school at the University of Oklahoma, Pryately walked to school. When she came to St. Cloud, she drew a “walkability circle” around the campus area and wouldn’t go outside of it to find a place to live.

“I was looking for any way to save money,” she said. And it had broader implications for her including exercise and a connection to her Lake George neighborhood.

Twenty-one years later, Pryately still walks seven blocks to her office in Riverview Hall and back home at the end of the day. It takes her 12 minutes each way.

She also takes the stairs to her second-floor office in Riverview and sometimes take a couple of laps around nearby Lake George.

The economic benefits add up quickly. She saves on gas, vehicle maintenance costs and gets a lower rate on insurance for the car she uses for pleasure drives and long trips.

She also estimates that it would cost her between $215-$285 a year to park on campus.

She says walking to work is something that you have to do each day.

“You have to build exercise into your routine if you want to be healthy,” she said.

Saving time by incorporating exercise time into routine daily tasks — like walking to work — saves time that you would spend going to a gym.

“I can’t think of a negative on this. I don’t think there is a downside,” she said.

People cite obstacles to walking to work. Pryately tackles them head on.

» Too far away to walk: She suggest that you take a car or a bus and get off 10 or more blocks from work and walk the rest of the way.

» It’s too cold: You can’t slough off on cold days, Pryately said.

She wears lots of layers of clothes to keep warm.

In the cold, snowy weather, she says people often stop to offer her a ride. But she declines and explains that walking is a necessary part of her exercise routine.

» Safety and slipping: Pryately wears Yaktrax on her boots to keep her from slipping on icy sidewalks. She also has a marching gait that she follows to avoid slips and falls. She says she feels safe walking in what some consider less safe neighborhoods near campus.

Pryately also says walking to work helps build neighborhood connections. Some people have formed walking groups.

You don’t need any equipment to walk to work and in a mixed-income neighborhood, there isn’t any economic barriers to taking part, Pryately said.

She enjoys walking in a neighborhood she clearly loves. She calls it a privilege to live in the Lake George neighborhood. She cites the recent improvements to the Lake George and Eastman Park areas and the plans to keep the improvements maintained in the future.

Val Rogosheske also lives in the neighborhood and walks to her job at Whitney Senior Center — about a two-mile walk that takes her about 40 minutes one way.

She says she enjoys the walk because it helps us keep in touch with the environment.

“You are so close to the change of seasons,” she said. “You are much more attuned to what is going on.”

She walks in all kinds of weather and cites the old adage that there is no such thing as bad weather, just bad clothes.

She also thinks it is safer to walk than to bike. Although walking south to north routes do offer the challenges of the railroad tracks.

Pryately offered several observations and suggestions on ways to increase walking to work in St. Cloud. She said that walking east-west is easier in St. Cloud than walking on north-south routes. Walking north, there are barriers including Division Street, railroad tracks, underpasses and few main arteries.

She suggests the city conduct a survey of existing pathways and help determine the best routes for walking and perhaps find a way to upgrade some areas including pedestrian overpasses.

The goal should be to make walking to work easier in all parts of the city.